It’s been a rough road for Mitch MicDeere. Now, it’s come to an end — at least on NBC. The Firm has been cancelled after one season of 22 episodes.
The Firm picks up years after the young attorney (Josh Lucas) made his deal with the mob to take his old crooked law firm down. He and his family have come out of hiding but their problems haven’t gone away. The show also stars Molly Parker, Callum Keith Rennie, Juliette Lewis, Natasha Calis, Tricia Helfer, Martin Donovan, Shaun Majumder, and Paulino Nunes.
The series represented one of NBC’s biggest launches of the season but it misfired right from the start. The two-hour premiere brought in a dismal 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic with just 6.32 million viewers.
When The Firm moved to its regular timeslot on Thursdays a few days later, the numbers got even worse. Week two dropped 29% in the demo and the ratings kept falling in subsequent weeks. After hitting an embarrassing low for a primetime show — a 0.8 demo rating with 2.97 million viewers — NBC sent it packing to Saturday nights.
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The numbers have been awful since that move — even for a Saturday night show. It’s frequently outperformed by movies and crime drama reruns on the other networks.
To date, The Firm has an average of a 0.7 rating in the demo and 2.10 million viewers. On our NBC Ratings Report Card, which measures the relative demo success of shows on the network, the show has a “D-” grade — even after low viewership is taken into account.
On the positive side, NBC’s deal for The Firm is unique and a bit more like the one the network had for Merlin, the supernatural drama produced by the BBC.
Sony and eOne partnered to produce The Firm, primarily for the overseas market. Thanks to pre-sales and Canadian production tax credits, the cost of producing the series was already paid for and NBC was able to pick up the show for a greatly reduced licensing fee, just like any other secondary buyer.
Not surprisingly, The Firm won’t be back on NBC (according to TVWise) because the network has opted not to renew its deal with Sony and eOne. The series could continue to be produced for other markets however and even possibly be picked up by a cable channel here in the US. There’s been no word on the show’s fate beyond NBC so, for now, we’ll have to wait and see.
There are 22 episodes in the first season of The Firm and tonight’s marks the 17th. Right now, the finale is slated for June 23rd. If a second season isn’t going to be produced, hopefully the last episode will supply enough closure for the few million faithful viewers who’ve kept watching.
What do you think? Are you sorry that NBC isn’t continuing the show? Would you watch on another channel or purchase season two on DVD?
Image courtesy NBC.
As usual, a good show goes, and they keep the crappy ones, because of a certain demographic. I was just telling my wife that Justified would have NEVER made it on the big 4 ! Watch out you demo counters, FX, TNT, AMC, A&E, et al, are going to knock you out of the ball park w/ their great shows !
Your network is so stupid for cancelling The Firm. What happened did someone from stupid CBS come to work for you? I watch The Firm faithfully and am so disappointed that you canncelled it. I hope some other network picks it up and shows you what a mistake you are making. The Firm was the best show you had on your network. I wish you would reconsider and let us fans have a season two. You are getting like CBS, you cancel the good shows and keep the worst ones going season after season. Shame on you. Josh Lucas is… Read more »
I really like this show, and watch it faithfully even on Sat. night.
I would continue to watch it on another channel or dvd.
We love The Firm and hope a cable channel picks it up.
We LOVE watching the firm. Maybe one of the other networks will pick it up for the fall. NBC seems to be losing everyone’s interestest, starting with the Today show and up!
This is the best show on tv! I so hope that a cable channel will pick it up. I can see it doing well on TNT, USA, something like. I actually wrote to a couple of those cable networks asking them to consider picking it up….especially since the last episode is going to have a cliffhanger and a lot of loose ends.
Bring back the firm!
As many have commented.. This show has probably been cancelled due to the fact that its not a ‘reality’ show and forces viewers to think. This show is unbelievable – it’s right up there with the best (Revenge included!).
Someone needs to pick up this show and continue the storyline. It’s about time someone made a stand and supported a truly amazing series rather than go with the flow and create another Kardashian show.
The Firm is one of the best shows on tv-finally a tv show that is extremely enjoyable to watch espec ially for the over 50 age group. The Firm should be given another chance to prove themselves to the NBC audience. I understand the so called reality shows bring in the big money, but to the baby boom generation , character and story development are essential, and shows like The Firm provides this. We (and there are many of us) truly hope NBC continues to show The Firm-if they cannot-we hope another channel will give it a chance-maybe it is… Read more »
It seems all the good shows are being taken off while we are stuck with silly shows that have no meaning or even good acting. I am a sr. and am so discussed with the show that the major channels show. Thank goodness for Usa, Tnt, Syfy at least they show something good. Not sure who they are asking for reviews but it sure isn’t older fokes who watch a lot of TV. Wake up, show some good tv.
We love this show. If NBC doesn’t change their mind to renew it, we hope another network will pick them up. Southland was a great show on NBC; now it’s doing great on TNT.
This is an amazing show. It revealed the great Gianpaolo Venuta who plays Joey Morolto Jr. Actually, all the characters are lovely. The show is so well done, it mixes politics, law, mob, love. I can’t understand why it’s been canceled really. I hope so much that another channel will buy the show.
Omg. I’m so upset that NBC as choosen not to renew the Firm. I love this show ,the actors and the writing. I hope think this show would do exceptional on a cable channel like USA or TNT..( they know drama) and this show is full of it..and if not I would certainly watch the second season on DVD, but keeping figures crossed that another network will pick this up! Please.. Please
My husband and I have enjoyed this show. We could not wait for each episode. Great acting and very interesting content. We hope NBC reconsiders it’s decision or another network grabs this great show!!
This is a great show. I think NBC blew it. I watched every episode and was looking forward to another season.
What a shame and great loss. This along with Awake will be missed.I hope both move to cable. The cast were outstanding. I tried to watch traditional television but it seems I keep viewing cable more often.